The Emotional Freshman
by Leonard Burton is Dead
Summary: It's been a few years since the Anderson family moved, and Riley has gotten very adjusted to her middle school life. However, that's going out the door as she just graduated eighth grade. Summer vacation is here, and freshman year is just around the corner. (Photo credits: Frozenspots deviantart) Rated T for swearing
1. Puck Yeah!

**A/N: I forgot to add this in the first update. Whoops. Anywho, welcome to my first fanfic. I worked pretty hard on this chapter and I'm currently working on the second one so if you like it you can expect it in the next week. I'm trying my best and I hope you enjoy it.**

This was it. The last minute of the third quarter with a tie, if Riley didn't do something the game would go into overtime. Usually this wouldn't be such a problem, but her dad had a business call to get to at home and he wouldn't be able to see the game finish if it went into overtime. He had made it clear that watching the full game alone could put his call in jeopardy but he came regardless.

It had been a long time since the move, three whole years in fact. And in that time, Riley had adjusted quite well. She had made new friends, she was a straight A student, plus she was one of the best players on her hockey team. Living in San Francisco wasn't really as bad as she had originally thought, and she always went to visit her family and friends back in Minnesota.

There wasn't really much that could go wrong at this point. All Riley needed to do was somehow make a goal in the next thirty seconds. Riley had worked hard to get to this point, but she wasn't the only one.

There had been some big changes in Riley's head over the past three years, especially after Anger had accidentally hit the "Puberty" button when he threw a chair at the control panel. That had led to some...interesting problems. Disgust went almost insane for a little, but since then she's calmed down. The emotions had gotten better at working together, but most of the time only one would be at the control panel. After all, it was still a lot to adjust to.

"We just gotta get the puck is all." Anger growled, pushing a few buttons in an attempt to make Riley a bit more aggressive. "We can't go into overtime, then dad won't see our big win."

"We could miss and end up losing, I say we just give up." Sadness sighed as she slumped to the floor.

"Hey, none of that!" Joy exclaimed, scooping up the blue emotion. "At least he came, right? And we've scored at least one good goal already."

"Yeah but scoring isn't the same as winning, Joy." Anger said, watching the big screen which was Riley's vision. "So let's win already!"

Then they head it, the sound of a puck against a hockey stick.

Anger smiled, "Now we're talking!"

He quickly moved side to side, pushing buttons, throwing switches, and moving levers up and down. Riley was going faster than she had ever gone before, trying to get to the goal before the timer hit zero. As she zoomed down the ice, Sadness and Joy approached the console, both ready to act incase of a goal or a miss.  
Fear was slowly creeping up on the console, worried about how close Riley was getting to the goal.

"Hey guys, maybe we should slow down just a bit." He offered, reaching for the lever that Anger was currently pushing as far as he could.

"Don't you dare touch that." Anger growled, releasing the lever for a brief second to push Fear away. "We're making this goal, and nothing is gonna stop us."

Meanwhile the timer kept counting down, only thirty seconds left till the game was over, and Riley was almost at the goal. Anger kept pressing buttons and pulling levers, keeping Riley's adrenaline levels up.

"Why aren't we shooting it?" Fear asked, his entire body shaking nervously. "We really don't want a repeat of what happened last year, do we?"

"I'm getting on that." Anger said, rolling his eyes. He reached over and slammed his fist down on a button.

Riley's hockey stick flew forwards, launching the puck towards the net. Joy and Sadness were already reaching for their respective buttons. The goalie looked back just in time to see the puck rocketing towards him. He lunged for it, but by then there was no time. The puck shot past him into the goal right as the buzzer went off.

"That was amazing!" Joy shouted as she quickly pushed various buttons. Two memories rolled onto the shelves, one red and the other yellow.

"You bet it was." Anger said with a smirk.

There wasn't much left to do here on the ice, the coach said a few words of praise and encouragement and then sent the team off to their lockers. Riley changed as fast as she could, then hurried out to meet her mom and dad.

"Is it over?" Disgust asked, peeking out the window of the small area the emotions slept in.

She had stopped watching the games for the most part, mainly because she sometimes was a distraction and other times because she couldn't stand how sweaty the girl was getting.

"Yes, Disgust, you can come out now." Joy said with a smile on her face. "We scored the game winning goal."

"Was winning the game worth practically drowning in our own sweat?" Disgust asked, slowly walking down the ramp towards the control panel. She sighed, "As soon as we get  
home, we are taking a shower for at least an hour."

"The final games are coming up in a few weeks, and there ain't no rest for the wicked." Joy said, as she pressed a few more buttons. "So far it's been really good, and I have an even better feeling about this upcoming summer vacation!"

"What makes you say that?" Sadness asked, still laying on the floor.  
"Because after this break, we're going to high school!" Joy exclaimed.

"Oh boy, as if middle school wasn't judgmental and stressful enough." Disgust scoffed, flipping her hair.

"Oh come on, I'm sure we'll be fine. After all Riley is a straight "A" student."

"Whatever, let's just get home and get clean." Disgust said, rolling her eyes. "I think I'll barf if I'm forced to sit through this stench much longer."

 **And that's the end of the first chapter. Leave a review, criticize or praise. Both are very helpful to my stories and are equally appreciated.**


	2. Summer Days

**Me again, your regular author. Just here to remind you that nothing is infinite except the ever approaching end of it. Also that these first few chapters might skip around a bit, and for that I am sorry. It's not going to be going back and forth, though I may bring back some flashbacks in later chapters.**

There was not a cloud in the sky that day. Riley was soaking up the sun, trying to get a little bit more tan before Brian commented on how she was "pastier than glue itself." Fortunately for Riley, she never had to worry about getting the "summer body." Hockey made her total body weight almost entirely from lean muscle. Her dirty blonde hair, which she had kept short cut up until seventh grade, was tied up in a pony tail for the moment. She usually let it hang to just past her shoulders, much like her mother.

Summer had just started a week ago, and Riley was planning on making the best of this summer. Her mom and dad alike had both warned her that she would need to study what she had learned in eighth grade throughout the summer if she wanted to be able to start off freshman year with a good start.

"Study over summer break?" Anger fumed when Riley's parents had told her the news. "You want me to study over summer break, buddy?"

He reached for the controls but Joy jumped up in front of him. "Let's not think of that so bad all of a sudden. Think of all the good things we could learn!"

"You mean the things that we learned last year, Joy? Those things?" Anger raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, maybe not learn as much as...remember!" Joy offered. "All we have to do is bring up the memories at the end of summer break so Riley can just worry about having fun this summer!"

Just as Anger was about to make a retort, Riley's phone went off. She flipped up her sunglasses and rolled over onto her stomach. She was on one of San Francisco's beaches, and her parents were a little further up the beach sitting under a large umbrella.

Riley reached over to her bag, a tan backpack that she almost always used to carry around supplies, and took out her phone. It was Brian.

"If he mentions anything about the tan or lack thereof, I'm hanging up on him." Disgust said.

Riley answered the phone.

"Hey Ri-Ri." Brian said in an exaggerated tone.

"Oh no." Disgust sighed, putting her face in her hands. "He's doing his white girl voice."

"I love that voice!" Joy said with a laugh, pushing a few buttons.

Riley chuckled, "Hey Brian."

Brian was Riley's friend, she would probably even go so far as to say best friend. He was just a little taller than her, maybe an inch at the most. He had a sort of charcoal black hair that seemed like it was out of control, but Riley knew he spent at least half an hour fixing it every morning. His eyes were probably the best thing about him. Striking green eyes that seemed to take in everything, mostly Riley's outfit and lack of fashion. He was probably the only person that Disgust hated more than broccoli.

Plus he was gay. A yellow memory fell into HQ and was projected onto the screen. It was back in seventh grade when Brian had come out. He had made a PowerPoint of the hottest boys in the school and pointing out why he was more likely to go out with them than she was. Of course it was a joke but he didn't really know any other way he could have come out to his friend. Riley wasn't sure but she didn't know if he had come out to anybody other than her, and she liked that.

"He trusts us a lot." Joy had been bouncing around Headquarters when Brian had come out. "We must be his best best best best best best best bestest friend!"

Fear wasn't so excited. "What if we accidentally tell somebody? What if somebody else finds out and Brian thinks we told them? He'll hate us!"

But nobody found out and Riley kept her mouth shut. Brian and her became even closer friends, which is why she was excited that he ended up getting into the same high school as her.

"So Ri-Ri," Brian continued, and the memory shot back to long-term, "I heard there was this new romance flick based off the book Cardboard Cities. You know I'm a sucker for cheesy romance and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

"Sure when is it?" Riley asked, propping herself on one elbow.

"Next week, Wednesday. I'll text you some more information later."

Inside Riley's mind, Joy was yelling orders. "Fear check if we have any plans for next Wednesday! Sadness get ready to plead with mom and dad if we need to. Disgust you get the outfit and Anger standby."

Fear, who had rushed out during Joys rant, rushed back in to the main room. "We're all good for the date."

"Yeah I'd love to go." Riley said, a small smile on her face. "I'll just have to ask my parents. I'll call you back later."

"Sounds good, Ri-Ri." Brian said. "Guess I'll talk to you later."

"See you around Brian." Riley said, and then hung up.

"Alright let's go ask mom and dad if we can go!" Joy said gleefully, pushing a few buttons.

Riley started to get up when Disgust ran over and pushed a few more buttons. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. We came here to tan, so let's tan!"

"Oh come on Disgust." Joy sighed. "Let's just go ask mom and dad, it'll take less than a minute."

"Unless we're doing something and we just don't remember." Disgust argued. "That could lead to a conversation that lasts at least thirty minutes. We. Are. Tanning!"

"Fine." Joy said, throwing up her hands. "Let's tan. But as soon as we get in the car we're asking if we can go."

"Deal." Disgust smiled, pushing a button.

Riley eased back onto the towel and lay on her stomach. As the sun warmed her back, a cool wind blew down the beach. So far, summer was going great.

 **And there's chapter number two. Go me. Unfortunately for me, my schedule is gonna start filling up soon and I'm gonna have less time to work on this. But I will try my hardest don't worry. Don't forget to leave reviews. Criticism or praise either is welcome. And by praise I don't mean like sacrificing your first born to me I'm talking about what you liked so I know what to keep in. Anyways, thanks.**


	3. Best Friends

**Wow, these chapters are coming out faster than I expected. Must mean I have nothing better to do in my life. Oh well, at least I enjoy it. Hope you guys do too. I want to apologize in advance if the update speed suddenly drops to like one a week or slower. That means I've either started my work at day camp or school has started again.**

Riley and Brian walked out of the theater, both holding a large drink. Inside Riley's mind, Joy had been sitting on the couch for the past hour. She had spread out across it and dangled her head over the edge. She had been groaning for almost the entire time. Sadness had been at the controls for all that time, and she finally stepped down.

"Why would people do this to themselves?" Joy asked, rolling off the couch and pushing herself up.

"Sometimes people like to feel sad, Joy." Sadness said as the two switched off. "It makes them feel better afterward."

"I guess you're right." Joy sighed, pressing a few buttons and flipping switches.

"I think the movie was stupid to be completely honest." Anger grumbled. "Why would anybody do that? Ditch school and do that?"

"Plus that was a totally bitchy move at the end." Disgust scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I mean the poor guy went all across the country and she basically told him to piss off."

"Hey at least they promised to talk, right?" Joy said, pushing a few buttons.

"Eh, I still think we should have gone to the one with the dinosaurs."

"That one looked scary, I think this was a much better choice." Fear said from the windows overlooking the islands.

"You're scared of everything, you purple baby." Anger muttered, jumping up onto the couch.

"So what'd you think of the movie Riley?" Brian asked, making the emotions quiet down.

Riley "I liked it, but I liked the book better." Riley

"Well duh!" Disgust rolled her eyes. "The book is always better."

"Yeah." Brian nodded. "The book is usually better."

"Did he just agree with me?" Disgust gagged. "Excuse me, I'm going to go barf."

Disgust hurried out of the room with her hands over her mouth.

"Oh come on Disgust!" Joy shouted after her. "It's not like he likes hockey or anything!"

"So, Ri-Ri," Brian smiled, as he finished his drink and threw it out. "Wanna go grab lunch?"

"Sure I guess." Riley shrugged. "Where do you wanna eat?"

"Why don't we just grab something from McDonalds and head back to your place."

"And while we're at it," Disgust yelled from the loft room, "why don't you just move in?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan." Riley smiled.

 _Three Years Ago_

It was lunch time, which meant that Riley was sitting in the courtyard alone. It had been about a week since she tried to run away, and she was still having a little trouble adjusting to life in San Francisco. Riley still hadn't tried to make any friends, not after she had cried in class.

"We still need to wait until things die down a bit, then we can go try and make friends." Disgust insisted.

"I don't see why we just don't go over there and try to start again." Joy sighed, resting her arms on the console.

"What? No!" Disgust exclaimed. "They saw us crying, Joy! Crying! It'll take them at least a week or two to stop talking about us behind our back."

"Ugh, fine. We'll wait for somebody to talk to us." Joy sighed, slumping her head on the console.

Suddenly a shadow loomed over Riley.

"Oh no!" Fear shouted. "What if it's one of those kids come to make fun of us?"

"Or worse, the school counselor!" Disgust added.

"Hey Riley." Came a voice from above.

Riley looked up. "Do I know you?"

"The name's Brian. And no, you don't know me. Not yet at least."

"A new friend?" Joy shot up from her sluggish position and pressed a few buttons.

Riley managed a weak smile. "Oh. Hi Brian. You wanna sit?"

"Sounds like something I might do." Brian smirked as he sat. "So Riley, I noticed you had a little trouble in class last week."

"I knew it." Sadness sighed. "He just wants to talk about how we cried in class. Maybe we should cry again."  
"Sadness, no. I got this." Joy reassured the smaller emotion.

"Yeah..." Riley muttered. "It's been hard trying to adjust to life here. It's so much busier than back home and it seems like everybody is either too occupied with their phones or in a rush to get from one place to another."

"Yeah, it blows, doesn't it?" Brian asked rhetorically as he slid down the bench so his feet were much further out than Riley's own. "But at least you're adjusting, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean it's not like it's gonna be impossible to get used to."

"That's a better way of looking at it." Brian smiled. "So do you always eat out here alone or do you have some friends hiding in the corner that I should be worried about."

"It's just me here. I haven't made any friends yet." Riley mumbled. "Besides you I suppose."

"What's that Riley?" Brian asked. "You're gonna have to speak up eventually."

"I said," Riley repeated a bit louder, "that as of now, you are my only friend."

"Well," Brian smiled, "ain't that something. Stick with me kid, you're gonna go places."

 _Present_

Brian had been with RIley almost since she moved to the city. He had been there for her through the thick and the thin, and was probably the best friend she could have asked for. Even if he id make comments about how pale she was, or how tacky almost any outfit looked on her.

He was just looking out for her, and he was just looking out for him. As she sat on her bed, she watched him unwrap a burger. He looked over at her just before he took a bite.

"What?" He asked, "Do I have something on my face?"

"Other than that stupid look?" Disgust retorted.

"Play nice Disgust." Joy warned.

"No." Riley smirked. "Just...thanks Brian."

"Are you feeling okay?" Brian asked, reaching over and putting his hand on Riley's forehead mockingly.

"I'm fine you big jerk." Riley laughed, slapping away his hand. "Seriously though, thank you."

"Don't get all mushy on me, not after that movie." Brian said as he took a bite out of his burger.

Riley just smiled.

 **Alright third chapter done! It's been one a day so far, hasn't it? Or did I miss a day? I don't know it's summer and time isn't really something I've been paying attention to. Anyways as I stated earlier I'm apologizing in advance for update time lengthening, and also remember to leave a review. Both criticism and praise are accepted. Tell me what you think of Brian too and if I can do anything to make the character better.**


	4. Just a Talk

**I'm back with another chapter. Yay! So anyways the date where my schedule is messed up approaches, and I'm wondering if I should stockpile chapters and update on a different schedule or just update when I can. I'll put a poll on my account and just check it out here. But for now, just read (and hopefully enjoy) this chapter.**

Riley was laying on her bed, an empty McDonalds bag sitting on the lamppost next to it. Brian was still sitting on the ground, finishing off his big mac. They had been sitting there for only a few minutes, but it had still felt like forever.

"Hey Brian?" Riley asked, making an attempt to get her friends attention.

"Yeah Ri-Ri?" Brian replied, crumpling up the burger wrapper and throwing it in his own bag.

"Why did you come sit with me?" Riley's eyes watched her ceiling, "Back in sixth grade."

"Well it was simple, you looked lonely and sad." Brain answered with a small chuckle. "It's not like I was just gonna let you be alone. Trust me, I know what it's like to feel like it's you against the world."

Riley turned on her side to face him, and was a bit surprised to see Brian had a sad smile on his face.

Brian continued, "Truth is, I didn't really have any friends either. You don't ever wonder why you don't see me hanging around other kids? I feel like an outsider almost everywhere, that includes my home. You're probably the only person I've managed to keep as a friend for more than a few months."

Sadness crept up to the controls and pressed a few buttons and pulled a lever. Riley sat up on her bed and looked at Brian.

"You probably think I look stupid, huh?" Brian asked, a slight quiver in his voice.

Disgust walked over to the console and opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but she decided against it. "As much as he makes comments about how poor I do my job, I can't hate him." She sighed, and stepped away from the console.

"No, not at all Brian." Riley smiled.

Sadness pushed a few more buttons and Riley slid off the bed to sit next to her friend. A quick button push and switch flip later, Riley was hugging Brian tightly. He hugged her back and started to cry silently.

"Don't worry. I'm here for you." Riley said, hugging him tighter.

"Hey Riley." Brian sniffled.

"What is it Brian?" Riley asked, letting go and looking at him.

"You ever consider getting a more supportive bra?" Brian joked, a small smile creeping onto his face.

Riley lightly hit him. "Why don't you let me worry about my body and you worry about yours, kay?"

In Riley's mind, Joy had been shuffling through the many lightbulbs that made up certain ideas Riley would have.

"Come on, come on." She muttered. "It's got to be around here somewhere."

"What are you looking for?" Sadness asked, stepping back from the controls.

"Don't you worry about a thing!" Joy smiled, putting the lightbulb in the slot. It lit up and then slid down into place.

"There's actually something I've never told you about me." Riley said, rubbing her arm.

"Really?" Brian asked. "I thought we agreed to keep no secrets between us."

"Yeah, I know." Riley shrugged sheepishly. "But hey, I'm telling you now."

"I guess." Brian rubbed his eyes, wiping away the tears. "So what do you have to tell me?"

"Well," Riley sighed, "That first week when I moved here, before you and I were friends, I tried to run away."

"You did what?" Brian asked, a bit too loud for Riley's liking.

"Keep your voice down, these walls are paper thin!" Riley shushed him. "Yes, I tried to run away."

Brian looked like he was going to explode. "Why? And how? Where were you gonna go and what were you gonna do when you got there?"

"Slow down, slow down!" Riley urged, "Shut up and I'll tell you."

She waited for a few seconds, looking at Brian. He readjusted himself and didn't say a word.

Riley sighed. "Back when we first moved here, there really wasn't much for me to do. I had no friends, the food was terrible, and to top things off the moving van came about a month late."

"But by then we were friends, weren't we?" Brian stopped her.

"Yes, we were." Riley answered to continue the story. "But before that I was feeling shittier than I've ever felt before or since. It really was horrible. So I had the bright idea to go back home to Minnesota. Guess I thought it would make me happy if I went there. I really wasn't thinking what'd I do when I actually got there."

Brian moved over and hugged Riley without saying anything.

"What a day it's been, huh?" Riley said jokingly.

"Yeah." Brian muttered. "What a day indeed."

 _Three Years Ago_

"Riley! Riley!" Brian whispered from behind her.

Riley ignored the constant grab for attention. She knew he offered to be her friend and all, but there was no way that he was going to get in between her and a good grade.

She was just about to start writing some more notes that the teacher had on the board when she felt something hit the back of head. What she assumed was a piece of paper fell to the ground with a small 'paf'.

"Did he just throw a piece of paper at us?" Anger jumped up from his chair and moved over to the console, talking to himself. "I don't know if you've noticed, buddy, but we're in the middle of class!"

"Anger!" Joy shouted, grabbing his arms in an attempt to stop him. "Anger, stop! We're in the middle of class you can't just shout at him!"

"Well then what, Joy?" Anger asked, sounding extremely annoyed.

"I don't know, maybe we can glare at him or something." Joy suggested.

"But make sure it's not too harsh or he may not want to be our friend anymore!" Fear shouted from the loft.

"How did you hear that?" Joy shouted back to him.

"Living in constant fear that somebody might sneak up on you makes ones hearing impeccable." Came the response from the loft house.

"Whatever, we're gonna glare, so let's glare!" Anger pushed a few buttons.

Riley shot Brian a small glare, but he just pointed at the paper ball and whispered "Read it."

Riley sighed and grabbed the ball, doing her best to make it smooth again. It simply read: "To your left."

Riley looked over to her left and almost laughed aloud.

"That girl is basically sleeping in a pond of her own drool." Joy burst out laughing.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Disgust muttered, trying to cool herself off by tugging at her ascot. "This is one of the reasons you don't fall asleep in public!"

"Calm down it's hilarious." Joy waved off Disgust. She pushed a few buttons at the console.

Riley looked back at Brian, who was smiling like an idiot. She shook her head as she turned back around, but was smiling ear to ear. Maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all.

 _Present_

"Thanks for having me over, Riley." Brian smiled as he stood on Riley's small porch. "It was fun."

"Yeah, we should hang out again some time soon." She smiled.

"Yeah." Brian agreed. He seemed to be at a loss of words for once. "Well, I guess I'll see you around then."

And with that, he was off her porch and walking down the street. And Riley was left standing at the door, watching him slowly walk away.

 **Sorry if this chapter is a little wonky, I was writing on a different program so the paragraphs looked much longer than they do on here. As I said above, please check the poll on my profile to tell me what you would prefer. The poll closes Wednesday, April 1st. Please leave a review, whether criticizing my work or just giving suggestions, all is helpful. And as always, I'll see you next chapter.**


	5. Leonard Burton's Life of Brian

**This chapter is mainly just some exposition for** **Brian, but I do plan to write another chapter or two in his perspective. Also for the new schedule, I plan on updating every Saturday I can. If I don't get it up on Saturday, expect it on Sunday. And if it doesn't go up Sunday, feel free to yell at me.**

Brian Green was one of the most fashionable people you could meet, at least according to him. He took pride in his appearance, though you would never find him bragging about that at home. His home life and public life were two very separate worlds that barely ever met. And Brian was happy about that.

Inside Brian's head, Disgust held control of the console. Disgust wore a white button up shirt with an emerald green vest on top of it, accompanied by violet pants and brown shoes. His hair was styled like Brian's own, a controlled mess that always fell in the right place. Disgust rarely left the console, and whenever another emotion needed to take full control, he never strayed too far.

Fear came next, wearing a black business suit with a tie and pants, along with shiny black shoes. Fear, unlike Disgust, was mostly at the console when Brian was at home. His job was to monitor what Brian said and did, making sure that his secret stayed a secret.

After that came Joy, the only female in HQ. She wore her blue hair in a ponytail, and had sky blue tinted diamond studs in both ears. She wore a meadowy-green t-shirt and ripped blue jeans and converse sneakers. Her job was to make sure that Brian always had a smile on his face, even when Sadness was at the controls.

Which was helpful considering that Joy, Fear and Sadness were usually at the console at the same time for most of Brian's day. Sadness wore a blue, zip-up sweatshirt with slightly darker blue sweatpants. He was there to help Brian whenever things started to build up too much. He regulated Brian's emotional buildup to make sure that it didn't overflow and Brian didn't do anything drastic.

Finally there was Anger, who was one of the least busy of the emotions. Rarely at the console due to Brian's calm rage, Anger still took it upon himself to always be ready for anything. He wore a white button up shirt with a light red bow tie and black trousers. Anger's main job was to make Brian intimidating when the time came for it. If that didn't work, Anger kept him alive during fights which, luckily for Brian, didn't happen very often.

HQ, while having the same shape as the HQ in Riley's head, more resembled those condo's you only see on TV. The back, which faced the various islands, was what looked like a wall of glass, separated only by thin white strips of solid wall. The memories that came down were actually split into their own individual category, which was then sent up onto the ceiling. The core memories were held in glass cases on either side of HQ in a symmetrical pattern.

The room had a more rectangular shape, and each emotion had their own separate room on the left side of HQ. Disgust's room was the closest and Anger's was the furthest. To the right of HQ was a small stair case that led to a sort of attic room where deliveries from the Train of Thought would be dropped off and where all the ideas were stored. However in the past few years, the boxes of creative ideas were slowly taking up space in the main area as Brian became more and more imaginative.

From a very young age, Brian learned that it was better to give people what they wanted to see rather than what he wanted to do. That is, until he met Riley Anderson in sixth grade. She didn't expect him to be the best that he could, she didn't tell him he could do better unless she truly thought he could. She was there for him when he needed her and he was there for her. Riley was like a sister to him, and he would do anything for her.

He still remembered the moment they first met, all of his emotions could too.

 _Three Years Ago_

"Disgust, let me take over for a little." Joy said, walking up to the console.

"Joy, hold on a moment." Disgust said, rubbing his temples. "We need to figure out where we're going to sit today. If you wanna go over and make us look like an idiot to get some laughs out of people, we did that on Friday and it'd ruin our little reputation if we did it again.'

Joy sighed as Disgust smoothed out and lightly tugged down on his vest. "Actually I was going to suggest we go talk to the new girl."

"The new girl?" Disgust echoed, not sure he heard Joy right.

"Yes, the new girl." Joy wished Disgust would just unwind for a little and let the other emotions take control. "Maybe we could actually make a friend for once."

"For once?!" Disgust was appalled. "We have tons of friends. We could go to any table and they wouldn't look twice."

"Those aren't friends, D." Joy couldn't understand how Disgust could be so blind. "We're just stupid entertainment for them! We could have a real, mutual friendship if we go talk to her!"

Disgust looked for some support from Fear, but none was received.

"She's right, and you know it." Fear mumbled, "Besides, it's not like she could possibly know about our reputation."

Disgust sighed, tugging slightly harder on his vest. "Fine. Fine! We'll talk to the new girl!" He reached for the controls but Joy slapped his hand away.

"I'm taking this one." She said. "You go take a break, D."

Disgust walked away, and Joy took his place at the controls. "Let's do this."

Brian took a deep breath, and then walked over to Riley. He could do this, he just had to be confident. He just had to find a way to let everything that wasn't him break off and be himself.

He stood over Riley now, and with another deep breath he smiled.

"Hey Riley."

 **And there's the chapter. Like I said above, mainly exposition for Brian. I did have something else planned for this chapter, but I hit my max word count. I try to make these short, quick reads for you guys. I think that most chapters with Brian will probably just be flashbacks. Remember to leave a review, whether criticizing or giving suggestions, anything is helpful.**


	6. Fourth of July

**By now I should have started my schedule, which means that today is the Fourth of July (as stated in the title.) Originally I totally forgot about the fourth being on this upcoming Saturday, but thanks to Boy Jav I was able to rewrite this chapter. I don't think I'll post the original, or at least post it anytime soon. But anyways, hopefully you enjoy this chapter.**

Nothing says Fourth of July like a box of firecrackers, a bag of sparklers, and two fireworks. Riley couldn't even believe that her dad had let her get all of this. Plus she had no idea where they were even going to use all of it. There was no way that her mom would even consider using these things at all, much less the back yard.

"Oh this is gonna be the best Fourth of July celebration ever!" Joy bounced all around HQ.

"This could go horribly wrong." Fear muttered to himself, making a list of the endless outcomes of setting off fireworks in the city. "We could catch a building on fire, or the firework could tip over and hit somebody!"

"Please tell me we got the high quality fireworks and the tiny pieces of crap!" Disgust had her fingers crossed as Riley inspected one of the firework cases. She turned it over and her eyes almost fell out of her head.

"One-hundred dollars?" Disgust shouted. "This is gonna be the best Fourth of July ever!"

"Where are we gonna set these off anyways?" Riley asked, leaning forward to talk to her dad.

"Well first we need to pick up your mom, and then we're gonna head down to one of the beaches on the west coast." Her dad replied, not taking his eyes off the road.

Riley leaned back to rest in her seat. Hopefully her mom wouldn't shut this idea down, due to obvious safety hazards. She looked out the window at the orange sky and the setting sun. It would still be about half an hour to an hour before night overtook the city.

Riley sighed and smiled to herself, closing her eyes slightly and listening to the sound of the landscape passing outside the car.

"Why's she going to sleep?" Inside Riley's head, Fear was almost ballistic. "It's not even eight yet!"

"Relax, Fear!" Joy lightly punched Fears shoulder, "It's just a nap."

"Guess that means break time for us." Disgust shrugged, laying down on the couch. "Who's got dream duty?"

"It's only a nap, I don't think we need to worry about dream duty. It's not like we're going anywhere." Joy said, sitting on a small bean bag that she had dragged from further back in HQ.

And so the emotions sat there, watching the various images and clips that flashed across Riley's mind. Memories of previous Fourth of July celebrations came up more than others.

There was one where Riley was only five years old, when she still wore her hair in pigtails. She was riding on her dads shoulders, watching the fireworks explode in unimaginable colors and patterns. The sound was deafening, but it was nothing compared to the brilliance and beauty of what Riley saw.

Fast forward another five years. Just a little over a year before the move back when her and Grace were still close friends. That was probably the most fun Fourth celebration ever. They had ran around with sparklers and roman candles, which both their parents had bought for them. Running around their neighborhood, shooting the roman candles into the street with trials of sparks flying after them.

"That was a great year." Anger said, folding his arms together and leaning back.

"It was," Joy agreed, "but this year will be even better."

"Riley." A soft voice shook Riley from her nap, though it was much darker than when she had fallen asleep. Not to mention that they were now at the beach with her mom in the passenger seat.

Riley stretched as she slid out of the car. Walking around to the back, where all the fireworks and firecrackers were stored. Pulling out her phone to check the time, she was surprised that she had been asleep for about an hour and a half.

"Dad, how could you let me sleep so long?" She asked her dad as she pulled the firecrackers out of the back.

"You seemed like you needed the sleep." Her dad smiled at her as he pulled out the two fireworks from the backseat. "Plus now you'll be well rested for this whole thing."

"I still can't believe we're going to be setting off fireworks of all things in the middle of the city." Riley's mom sighed, putting her face in her hands.

"Come on honey. It's the Fourth of July." Riley's dad said, still smiling.

"Doesn't change the fact that this is still really dangerous." Her mom replied, getting out of the car.

The beach wasn't too far, just a quick walk down the steps and they were there. Riley's dad had already made a plan, they were going to bury a few firecrackers and then set them off, creating little land mine-ish explosions in the sand.

"Aw.." Joy sighed. "I thought the firecrackers would be bigger and louder."  
"You always think that Joy." Disgust pointed out. "And it's always the same."

"Yeah but there's always advances in technologies and stuff! If they can make skin in a lab why can't they make bigger firecrackers." Joy defended her idea.

"I think they're big enough already." Fear said. "I mean what if one of them blows up and we get hurt or something?"

"Relax, Fear!" Joy laughed, "We're being really safe, thanks to you."

Fear took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Yeah, thanks to me we're going to be a-okay!"

Just as he said that, the last firecracker went off right by Riley's foot. Fear yelped and quickly pressed a few buttons. Riley yelped and jumped back, causing her parents to come running over.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Her mom said, shaking her head.

"I'm fine, really." Riley said as they fussed about her.

"Well then, you wanna do the sparklers or just do the fireworks and save the sparklers for next year?" Her dad asked when he finally decided that Riley was truly okay.

"I guess we should just do the fireworks." Riley shrugged.

"Yes, let's do the fireworks!" Joy shouted, jumping around.

"You really don't know how to be cool about anything, do you Joy?" Disgust sighed. "You can't act too excited all the time!"

"Sorry!" Joy started hopping around instead of jumping.

"Alright then, let's get these things set up." Riley's dad smiled.

It took them a little, but when they finally got the fireworks set up, Riley and her mom stood back as her dad worked at the fuses.

"You people ready?" He called over to them, to which Riley's mom gave a hesitant thumbs up.

The fireworks blasted into the sky, and Riley's dad ran over to where Riley and her mom were. He just made it in time to see the first one go off, a dazzling blue that slowly shimmered to a brilliant red.

Riley felt her parents put their arms around her, and in return she put her arms around them. Then the second firework went off, a blinding green that sparkled out with a loud hissing noise.

As Riley watched the fading light of the fireworks in the sky, kept warm between her two loving parents, a new memory rolled into HQ. One that shone brighter than the rest, but not as bright as a core memory. This was something Riley would remember the rest of her life.

 **And that's the end of that chapter. I'll be back here with another chapter next week, so tune in next Saturday. Remember, reviews are helpful, whether critical or just making a suggestion. See you all next week.**


	7. School Shopping

**Hey guys, this is the last summer chapter! Yay, high school finally starts! I don't have any messages right now, so just enjoy!**

This was just Riley's luck. She was stuck shopping for school supplies on a gorgeous day like today. The sun was probably brighter and hotter than it had been all summer, but there was a breeze that made the temperature equal out as much as it could get in California.

But here she was, stuck in a store buying stuff for the beginning of school.

"I can't believe mom made us come along with her!" Anger fumed as he gripped the newspaper that read: "Children Soon Enslaved."

"Hey come on!" Joy bounced around. "This is the first time we've been able to actually see what there is to have!"

"Maybe this year we won't have to wear a Hello Kitty backpack for the first half because mom thought that old cartoons were making a popularity resurface." Disgust sighed, examining her nails for non-existent flaws.

"It was a cute backpack though!" Joy defended the bright pink backpack that Riley had owned for most of seventh grade.

"Please, Joy." Disgust looked at Joy in disbelief. "Even with your lack of fashion sense you know that bag was nothing far from the most hideous bag in all of the school."

Joy sighed and lowered her head in defeat. "Yeah, it was one really ugly bag."

"See?" Disgust smiled victoriously. "Now come on Joy! Let me pilot just for this short time! Please?"

Joy nodded and stepped back to let Disgust take over the controls while Riley and her mom scoured the store for supplies for the upcoming school year.

"Say honey, what about this?" Riley's mom asked as she turned with a sparkly purple backpack.

"Gag me with a spoon." Disgust scoffed, pressing a button.

"Come on mom." Riley groaned. "Why can't we get something like when I was back in 6th grade, when you didn't try to make me look like a little girl."

"But you looked so adorable." Her mom sighed, smiling at the memory.

"It was in seventh grade." Riley sighed. "I got laughed at for the first month till everybody got used to it."

"I still think you should get a sparkly backpack." Her mom pouted.

"Mo-om" Riley groaned.

"Come on, you party-pooper." Riley's mom walked over to the more monochrome backpacks.

She made a big show about carefully looking over each and every backpack and nodding as if being taught a lesson. Eventually she grabbed two similar looking backs and brought them back to Riley.

"Do you want black of slightly darker black?" She asked sarcastically.

"Do you mean charcoal or ebony?" Disgust shouted, pressing a few buttons.

"Ha-ha." Riley said, unamused. "Why don't you take me seriously? I want to just get a nice, practical backpack for school."

Riley's mom dropped the sarcastic act and gave her daughter a loving smile. "I'm sorry honey, it's just you're going to be a freshman. I can't believe how long it's been since we moved here and how you've adjusted so well. You're no longer my little girl."

"Sadness and Joy, take care of this quickly so we can get back to shopping." Disgust said as she stepped back from the control board,

The two emotions got up and walked back over to the console. Sadness pushed a few buttons while Joy silently pulled a lever and turned a knob.

"It's okay mom." Riley smiled up at her mother, who was still a few inches taller than her. "I'm always gonna be your little girl, no matter how old I am."

Riley's mom smiled and wrapped her in a hug, sniffling slightly. When she let go of Riley, she smiled. "Let's go get those supplies, huh?"

"Yeah." Riley smiled.

"Alright, I'm up again!" Disgust said, stepping up to the controls and pushing a few buttons.

Riley and her mom continued walking throughout the store, searching for all sorts of things. They got about sixty-four pencils, around twenty pens, what Riley only could imagine was over one thousand pieces of paper. She got seven note books and folders, each one a different color to match the class they were going to be assigned to.

However, they still hadn't managed to find a backpack for Riley. It seemed that there were no good backpacks in the store. At least none that actually appealed to Riley.

Inside her mind, Disgust was getting more and more panicked.

"If we don't find this bag today, we might have to order one online!" She nervously tapped her shoulder. "That could take weeks to get here, school will have started by then!"

"Come on, there's got to be at least one good bag here." Joy tried to cheer up the green emotion. "We just gotta look and look hard!"

"Right." Disgust took a deep breath in. "Right, just keep looking. It can't be that hard to find a bag, right? Just has to be the right color and have a cute, but not too obnoxious symbol or something on it!"

"I'm wondering.." Riley's mom started to say.

"She better not say what I think she's gonna say!" Disgust seemed to be losing it a little.

"If we might have to.." Riley's mom continued.

"You better not say those two unholy words in front of me!" Disgust was frantically pressing buttons.

"Order online." Riley's mom finished.

In the two seconds that it took her mom to say that sentence, Riley had been frantically searching for a bag. "I don't know if I really want to order online, I don't really trust moving and shipping companies after the move."

Riley's mom sighed, "I understand. I suppose you could go check one more time for anything."

"Thanks mom." Riley quickly hugged her mom and then speed walked away, looking for a bag.

Riley sped through the store, making quick analysis' of the bags available. Then, something caught her eye. She stopped and slowly walked over to it. It wasn't much really, just a simple backpack that looked like the millions of others in the store.

"Joy." Disgust said, sounding as if she was about to snap. "Can you please tell me why you took over my job in picking a bag?"

"Come on Disgust, just let me handle this one. I think it looks amazing." Joy said, smiling to herself.

Riley's hand slid down the backpacks straps, when she felt the metal object that had caught her eye. It was a sizable keychain with only one thing hanging off of it. A small, metal crescent moon.

 **Me again. I don't know what I was really expecting to get from that last part. But anyways, the schedule's working nice, isn't it? As always, leave a review. All sorts of reviews are welcome.**


	8. First Day

**So far everything is going pretty well! Another chapter up and life goes on. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was kinda a pain to write. More characters coming soon, so if you want, suggest friend and enemy stereotypes via PM or review. Also cursing is going to be a little more frequent now. I'm gonna earn that T rating.**

Today marked the first day of high school for Riley Anderson. She had woken up with a sense of excitement, which had quickly die down as she began to eat her breakfast. Adjusting to high school would probably be easier than it was when she moved here in sixth grade, but it would still take a little time.

"You're going to have a great first day, kiddo." Her dad said as he walked into the kitchen, slightly ruffling her hair.

"Thanks, dad." Riley smiled slightly.

"You're gonna make a bunch of new friends, probably even find a boy you like." Her mom teased.

"Mom!" Riley blushed, hiding her face behind her hair.

Disgust had worked overtime to make Riley look as good as possible. She wore her hair up in a ponytail that fell just short of her shoulder. She had on a black t-shirt that had "If you can read this you're too close" written across it in small, red text, a gift that Brian had given her as part of an inside joke.

Along with the shirt she wore a pair of jean shorts, black leggings and gray tennis shoes. Her mom hadn't been so sure about her outfit, claiming that it wasn't really what fit Riley and her personality. Riley had quickly denied it, stating that she was just trying out new things. Although in reality, she wasn't too sure of it either.

"Are you sure we wanna dress like this?" Joy had asked as Disgust looked at her work in the mirror. "I mean, why not go with our usual blue shirt and sweat shorts?"

"Because this is the first day of high school." Disgust explained to Joy as if it should be obvious. "We're not trying to look like we're still in eighth grade."  
"I guess you're right." Joy shrugged. Joy still wasn't completely sure about the idea, but that was why Disgust handled how Riley dressed and not Joy.

"So Riley, you ready to go?" Her mom asked, picking up her purse from the table.

Riley nodded, picking up her backpack which she had meticulously packed the previous night and left in the living room.

"You've memorized your schedule?" Her mom asked as they walked out the door, "And you're sure that you know where your homeroom is?"

"Yes mom." Riley said, getting in the passenger side.

"Alrightie then." Her mom smiled as she got into and stared up the car.

They drove in silence for about twenty minutes before the school came into view. Riley felt a pit growing both bigger and deeper in her stomach every second. This is where she would be going to school for the next four years of her life. As they got closer to the building, Riley could already see a ton of kids standing in the small courtyard that was out front.

Her mom pulled over the car and leaned over to hug Riley. "You'll have a great day at school."

"Thanks mom." Riley smiled, hugging her back.

Riley got out of the car and walked towards the school, pulling her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. Only a quarter past seven, she still had plenty of time before she had to get to her homeroom.

She sighed and dialed Brian's number, crossing her fingers as the tone rang in her ears. "Come on...pick up."

"Hey Ri-Ri, what's shaking?" Brian asked as he picked up.

"Where the hell are you?" Riley asked, a little upset that Brian wasn't where he said he would be.

"Ah, shit..." She heard him groan, "I totally forgot about that."

"He forgot?!" Anger looked up from his paper, "We made it clear that we were gonna meet by the front of the courtyard around seven thirty before school started!"

"I made sure to tell him again and again just so he would remember." Fear started to bite at his fingers. "Now what, are we just gonna stand here alone, we don't know anybody!"

"Not to mention we look like an idiot!" Disgust shouted over the other two emotions.

"This is gonna be a horrible day, I can already tell." Sadness sighed, slumping down to the floor.

The four emotions rushed for the controls, pushing Joy out of the way. They all started to reach for the buttons when all of a sudden they heard a sharp whistle.

Joy had jumped on the couch and was standing on the back of it. "Guys," she shouted, "it was just like this when we first moved here, remember? Everything turned out fine in the end."

Everybody stepped back from the controls, listening to Joy. She continued, "Just because there's something new doesn't mean that we need to freak out. We just need to play it by ear."

On the phone, Brian was still talking. "Hey Ri-Ri, you still there?"

"Huh?" Riley shook her head, clearing her thoughts. "Yeah, I'm still here."

"I said I'll be there in a few minutes, don't worry." Brian repeated. "I'll see you soon."

"See you soon." Riley let out a little sigh of relief and hung up the phone.

"See what I mean?" Joy smiled, jumping down from the couch and went over to the console. "Today is going to be a great day, everything is going to be fine, and we are not going to do anything stupid. Trust me."

The few minutes that Riley waited for Brian were spent trying to think of ways to approach people.

"So what's the plan, people?" Disgust took the stage now. "We need a game plan for how we're gonna make friends."

"Well, you and I should probably be up there first." Joy offered.

"Good, I can see that working." Disgust nodded.

"Maybe I can help to make sure we don't give off any wrong messages?" Fear spoke up.

"We might need that, so stay on standby." Disgust replied. She glanced over at Anger and Sadness. "I don't think there's anything for you two to do right now. So just wait and if you're needed, you'll know."

Anger grumbled under his breath and turned away while Sadness just sighed and nodded. The other three emotions took their place at the console

"Hey Ri-Ri!" Brian called, running over to the meeting spot. "Sorry I'm late."

"Alright people!" Joy smiled, "Let's get this party started!"

 **Alright, I know it's technically not the first day and not really even in school yet, but don't worry that's on it's way. Been slowly chipping away at my writer's block. But I've got some ideas. As I said at the beginning of this chapter, send in some friend/enemy stereotypes that you think would be good in the story. And leave a review if you like it that much (or dislike it that much). Until next saturday.**


	9. Lunch

**So I managed to get some internet! It's all on time and yay. This chapter focuses mainly on one new character in detail mainly cause she's gonna be important. A few more will be introduced but probably not in such detail. Stereotypes are still appreciated.**

In the time that passed since school started and Riley's lunch period, two good things had happened to her. First off, she discovered that her and Brian shared their English, Lunch, and Drama period together. Secondly and more importantly, people seem genuinely interested in what she was like. It wasn't anything like sixth grade, where everybody was comfortable with all the other classmates. Sure, some kids had come over with older classmates, like how Riley had come with Brian, but mostly everybody was new to each other.

So far, her classes both started with name games so the entire class could learn each others names. All of the names had gone in one ear and out the other for Riley, memory was never her strong suit. She recognized a few faces in the mass of students when she walked into the lunchroom, some who even waved, but their names escaped her so she chose to avoid them.

When she finally found Brian sitting at one of the tables, he seemed to be one of the most popular kids in school already. He waved her over as soon as he saw her, a wide smile on his face.

"Here she is, ladies and germs." Brian said as he moved over to give Riley space to sit.

"Well, this certainly is a lot of people." Riley said as she sat, suddenly feeling slightly more self-conscious.

"This is not good, they're all totally judging us!" Disgust groaned, folding her arms on the console and letting her head fall on them.

"I like your shirt." Came a voice from the many people sitting around Brian.

"Who doesn't like judgement?" Disgust said, popping back up at the console.

Riley looked around to match the voice to a face, which didn't take long. Sitting right across from her was a girl that had her hair dyed a sky blue and eyes that reminded Riley of the ice on the pond in her old backyard when it first froze over. She seemed skinny, but not so skinny that it bordered on unhealthy, she also appeared to be just a little taller than Riley, but that was just based off the girl sitting.

"The name's Catherine, but you can call me Cathy." Catherine reached out her hand, which Riley had to lean forward to shake. "It's safe to assume that you're Riley."

"The one and only." Riley said as she sat back down. "Well, not the one and only, but yeah the only one Brian knows."

Cathy wore a black t-shirt and skinny jeans with converse, a simple yet practical outfit that never seemed to fit Riley. She felt like it just wasn't a look for her.

"Black outfits with dirty blonde hair are a giant no-no." Disgust had protested when Joy suggested the idea, thinking that it would help Riley fit in a little more. "Dark or dyed hair with dark clothing, light hair with light clothing. We can wear dark shirts or pants but not a whole outfit."  
"What if we're trying to break into someplace in the night and we need an all black outfit?" Joy posed the hypothetical question.

"Then there'll be something covering the hair and making the outfit reasonable, but we are not walking around public with a ski mask on our face!"

There were plenty more people at the table that seemed like they wanted to talk to Riley, but Riley was more interested in talking to Cathy. There was always other days to talk to the various types of people at the table.

"So Cather..." Riley stopped and then corrected herself. "Cathy, what school are you from?"

"Some shit private school that you've probably never heard of." Cathy replied, "My mom wasted a lot of money to send me to a school hoping that I'd get all 'proper' but all it really did was make me want to try to piss her off more."

"Ah..." Riley nodded, not really sure how to respond to that.

"So Brian tells me you're into hockey." Cathy changed the subject as smoothly as sandpaper down a path of glue. "That's pretty cool, keeps you in shape doesn't it?"  
"Yeah it's really nice, the workout is really hard but it's totally worth it in the end." Riley smiled. "Plus it's really fun."

"Is it hard to play with the extra baggage?" Cathy asked, leaning forward"With what?" Riley asked, not getting it.

In response, Cathy sighed. "Tits. Is it harder to play when you got your boobs in the way?"

Riley felt herself blush a little. "Um...No, not really. All you have to do is get a supportive bra, plus it helps that mine aren't that really big." Riley went quiet immediately after she said that, blushing even more.

"I can't believe we just said that." Disgust groaned, putting her face in her hands. "Who let that through?"

She looked down the console to see Joy looking over sheepishly. "Sorry, I got really caught up in the moment and it just kinda slipped out.

Disgust rolled her eyes and turned back to the screen.

"Don't worry about it girl, size doesn't matter." Cathy smiled. "Just don't date a guy that says that."

"Why's that?" Riley asked.

"Spare the girl her innocence, Cathy." Brian laughed.

"She's gotta learn sometime, Brian." Cathy sighed and rolled her eyes.

Riley wasn't sure how to feel about Cathy. On one hand, she seemed like a really sweet and nice girl. On the other, Riley was pretty sure she was gonna learn more about the birds and the bees than she wanted to know from Cathy.

"So Riley, apparently Cathy has a class with us." Brian smiled.

"What class is that?" Riley asked.

"Drama class, biatch." Cathy smiled, tapping the lunch table lightly. "Get ready to see some Shakespeare shit."

Riley decided that she would rather have Cathy as a friend rather than as an acquaintance.

"I like this girl." Anger smiled. "She really has a b-e-a-utiful vocabulary."

"She's pretty caught up on punk fashion too." Disgust muttered. "Although when does that ever change?"

"I don't know guys, she seems like she's made some bad decisions." Fear tapped his fingers together.

"I don't really have an opinion..." Sadness muttered. "She seems nice enough but everybody leaves eventually."

"Sadness!" Joy gave an exasperated sigh. "What have I said about the whole 'we're gonna die cold and alone' thing?"  
"Don't say it..?" Answered in more of a question like tone.

"Don't say it." Joy repeated. "I think we should befriend Cathy. It's not like we have any other friends in this school yet and besides, the more the merrier."

Riley smiled, "Well I'm looking forward to be awed by your amazing performances."

"You bet your left ass cheek you are." Cathy grinned a bit wider.

The bell rang and all chatter in the lunchroom picked up louder as all the kids made their way to either throw the rest of their food away or go to their next class. Riley realized that she didn't even eat anything and still didn't even feel the slightest bit hungry.

"Well, Cathy, I guess I'll be seeing you around." Riley offered her hand.

Cathy shook it and smiled, "I'll see you around Riley."

 **And** **that's** **the chapter. Hope you liked it. Leave a review telling me what you think of everything, especially Cathy. See you next week!**


	10. Falling?

**So I'm happy to tell you guys that I am attempting to make my chapters a bit longer, I don't really know if it was that noticeable in the last chapter but I've still got my mind set to wrap up around 1000 words. I actually started it before I began this fanfic and it inspired me to write this whole thing. I really only had half of it finished when I started working on the first chapter. I had to change it a little to fit the story but it's otherwise untouched. Also I am terribly sorry for the long wait. My laptop went down and I wasn't able to get ahold of the document. My schedule is going to be screwed over again as school starts so I'm going to apologize for that as well. Thanks for waiting, and I'm so sorry.**

"Guys!" Disgust exclaimed. "We have a very serious problem. Riley has said the word 'like' almost 10 times in the last three sentences."

She rushed up to the console with her arms extended, ready to save Riley from social suicide, when Joy practically tackled her from the side.

"Slow down there cowgirl." Joy grunted, trying to keep Disgust from the various buttons, levers, and switches that made up the console. "What's so bad about that?Maybe Riley is talking about something that she just likes so much she can't stop saying it?"

"Have you been listening to her at all?" Disgust said, struggling to get out from under Joy. "She's using it in the wrong context and everybody knows that's the most annoying thing ever."

"Really?" Anger asked excitedly. "Because if that's true we can always use it to-"

"No!" Disgust interrupted him, gaining her a scowl from the hot-headed emotion. "We will never ever ever do this after I fix it."

"And just how do you plan on doing that?" Anger growled, upset about how fast Disgust shut his idea down.

Disgust scoffed. "Well if miss sunshine would be so kind as to get off me I could show you."

With a quick apology, Joy got off of Disgust. The green emotion stood and brushed herself off with a little "hmph" and walked over to the control panel.

At first nothing happened, and it seemed like Disgust was just going to stand there all day.

"And so anyways," Riley started, "there was this, li-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Disgust pushed a button and Riley went silent for a few seconds before continuing without saying the dreaded word.

"Is that all, Disgust?" Joy asked, moving over and plopping down on the couch.

"I'm just getting warmed up." Disgust sighed. "I'm gonna have to keep doing this until Riley stops saying the word 'like' incorrectly."

"I still don't understand why this is such a big deal to you." Joy sighed.

"Of course you don't understand, Joy." Disgust scoffed. "That's why I deal with these things and not you."

"If you say so." Joy shrugged, she didn't really see the difference, but Disgust knew what she was doing and Joy trusted her.

"Hey Riley." Cathy waved her hand in front of Riley's face. "You still in there?"

"Huh?" Riley shook her head and smiled. "Sorry. I lost my train of though."

"No shit Sherlock." Cathy scoffed.

"Piss off, Watson." Riley replied, punching Cathy's shoulder.

It had only been a week since school started, but Riley was almost as close with Cathy as she was with Brian already. She was starting to rub off on Riley, much to Fears dismay. He was sure that Cathy was going to get them into some sort of trouble. But he still had yet to be proven.

Right now, they were at one of the various parks that San Francisco had to offer to it's citizens. Riley was sitting on a bench while Cathy was leaning up against it. They had been talking for the past few minutes, just having left a local burger joint that Cathy wouldn't shut up about in the small time Riley had known the girl.

"You were talking about how much you loved me and how I was your best friend in the whole wide world." Cathy said sarcastically, punching Riley back.

"That can't be it, because I was talking about, like-" Riley bit her tongue. Literately.

"Disgust!" Joy shouted. "What in the world are you doing?"

"I didn't mean for her to get hurt!" Disgust shouted back. "Just for her to close her mouth!"

"Just try to be more careful next time!" Joy replied, slightly irked.

"Sonuvabitch!" Riley cussed, her hands flying to her mouth.

"I really don't like the vocabulary Riley has gained in the time that we've been friends with Catherine." Fear said.

"What's not to like about it?" Anger asked, sounding a little offended. "It's sharp and to the point."

"But what if we let one slip around mom and dad?" Fear posed a possible problem.

"Calm down you're being paranoid." Anger waved off Fears concerns.

"Bite your tongue?" Cathy asked, though it didn't really seem like she cared all that much.

"Yeah." Riley sighed. "I've said the word 'like' in the wrong context too much, and I'm trying to stop. Guess I bit my tongue trying to stop."

"Why does saying like annoy you to the point where you're biting your own tongue?"

"Well it's not like I meant to bite my tongue." Riley pointed out.

Cathy just shrugged. "Continue."

"Well, as I was saying before I interrupted myself, she was-"

Disgust hit a button and Riley stopped for a second.

"She said," Riley corrected herself. "that if I wanted to get a good grade on the assignment then I should probably go down to the places I'm writing about to get more details."

"That's total bullshit!" Cathy laughed. "You're telling me you want to go out to the burbs and talk to soccer moms and the living definition of the fifty's?"

"I know right!" Riley sighed. "I mean the suburbs aren't that bad, but once you get used to city life it just seems so strange."

"Tell me about it." Cathy smiled, sitting down next to Riley. "Good thing you got me, girlie."

Cathy put her arm around Riley, who smiled. "You know, even though we met only a week ago, it feels like we've been friends forever."

"I have that effect on people." Cathy smiled, looking up at the sky.

Riley looked over at the girl sitting next to her. With her hair as blue as the sky above them, Cathy seemed to be in a sort of different world than the one Riley was living in. Riley found that she was feeling something very strange that she thought she would never feel towards another girl.

"Hey, um, I have to go now." Riley stood up quickly, slightly blushing.

"What's the problem?" Cathy asked, opening her eyes and looking down at Riley.

"Nothing!" Riley smiled, hoping she hadn't offended Cathy. "Nothing is the problem! I just remembered that I promised my dad that I would help with dinner tonight."

"Alright then, see you around, Ri." Cathy smiled, and Riley turned away and quickly left.

 **Talk about a pace change. I know the beginning is crap, but it's just something that I had written in my free time. Also more characters coming, yes I know I've said this for the past two chapters and I'm a horrible person for that. I'm also, once again, very sorry for last week. Please forgive everything about these past two weeks. I'll try my best to get back in the rhythm of everything and give you guys good content again.**


	11. Temporary Hiatus

**So there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that so far people have been liking this story and giving me reasons to write more. The bad news is, school starts for me in a few weeks and I have a bunch of summer homework to do. Now as much as I'd love to write, I can't until I finish this work. I've almost completed a chapter so I probably will be uploading tomorrow but after that I can't promise anything. I know this isn't fair to you guys, especially after I missed a week, but I need to make sure my school comes before fan fiction. I promise this isn't a permanent hiatus and I'm not ending the story. Updates will just come when they can after this week and I'm really sorry about that. Thanks for sticking with me as well as putting up with my stupid schedule changes.**

 **With thanks and apologies,**

 **Leonard Burton is Dead**


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